Dancing with the Stars NZ: Anna Wilcox's ABBA-themed paso doble leaves judges speechless

For her third routine on Dancing with the Stars NZ, freestyle skier Anna Wilcox knew she wanted to represent her Swedish heritage - and you can't get much more Swedish than ABBA.

Decked out in denim flares with shiny gold accessories, Wilcox began Sunday evening's routine standing atop the judges' table before being swept off her feet by partner Brad Coleman.

To the sounds of the 1975 hit 'Mamma Mia', the pair whirled around the dance floor in an entertaining if unorthodox paso doble. There were kicks, lifts and even a shimmy thrown in for good measure.

"We decided to turn it on its head and do the Spanish woman, but the Santorini woman," Wilcox explained to host Dai Henwood.

The crowd loved it, but the judges' reaction was a little different. The normally effusive Julz Tocker struggled for words to describe the dance. 

"You know, I know and the milkman knows that wasn't your typical paso doble. I'm kind of speechless for the first time. I…yeah. It was, I'm not sure."

He said it was clear Wilcox had fun dancing, but advised her to "get back to the roots next week".

Rachel White praised the athlete's skilful movement and sense of fun, but criticised the routine for not being recognisable as a paso doble.

"I want you to sort out the characterisation, because aside from that, you have it all."

Camilla Sacre-Dallerup told Wilcox the dance was great fun - in Swedish - before saying she'd taken a gamble with her routine that may not have fully paid off.

"It was truly a guilty pleasure for me," Wilcox admitted. "I just wanted to go out there and do an ABBA song."

"You know what? I love you for that," Sacre-Dallerup replied.

The judges gave Wilcox three sixes for an ultimate score of 18.

The next episode of DWTS NZ will air on Monday at 7pm on Three. The full episode can be watched again on ThreeNow.

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